Switzerland falls in global English skills ranking
The Swiss have slipped slightly - down to 19th place - in an annual ranking of English-language skills. The Dutch once again came first in the survey by EF Education First.
Nordic countries again dominated in the English language ranking: the Netherlands came top, followed by Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan and Libya occupied the bottom of the ranking.
Switzerland remains in the group of countries with “high” English language skills, but EF observed a small decline across all Swiss language regions (German-, French-, Italian- and Romansh-speaking). International cities like Geneva and Zurich were no exceptions. Lausanne was the only place showing progress.
“The Swiss education system is progressive when it comes to the teaching of English, but there is still not a very strong practical emphasis,” said EF Switzerland Director Christopher Hein.
“Efforts must be made to ensure the gap between Switzerland and the top countries doesn’t widen.”
The EF English Proficiency Index is a global ranking based on a survey of 2.3 million adults in 100 countries. The index draws its conclusions from data collected via online EF English reading and listening tests.
More
More
Swiss maintain ‘good’ English skills
This content was published on
According to a survey of 88 nations, Switzerland remains stable in its command of English, though it isn’t one of the four national languages.
How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Western nations like Switzerland often have to deal with the process of recovering or returning looted artifacts which have been illegally imported. What’s the situation like in your country?
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
Sylvain Saudan, ‘skier of the impossible’, dies aged 87
This content was published on
The Swiss father of extreme skiing pioneered descents from the Alps to the Himalayas – and became the sport’s first star.
Hayek family buys additional Swatch shares for nearly CHF11 million
This content was published on
Following the acquisition of registered shares worth over CHF20.6 million on Monday, the Hayek family made another purchase on Tuesday.
Suicide capsule to be used in Switzerland this year, says euthanasia organisation
This content was published on
The organisation “The Last Resort” has confirmed that the suicide capsule Sarco is to be used in Switzerland. This should happen this year, it said.
Ukrainian children flown to Switzerland for cancer treatment
This content was published on
The Swiss air rescue service Rega flew two Ukrainian children with cancer to Switzerland from a hospital in Kyiv hit by Russian missiles.
Swiss Solidarity raises over CHF10 million for victims of extreme weather
This content was published on
The money raised will be used to help those affected by the recent storms and flooding in the cantons of Ticino, Graubünden, and Valais.
Swiss giant Roche given green light for lung cancer drug in Canada
This content was published on
According to a recent study, Roche’s Alecensaro reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 76% compared to chemotherapy alone.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss maintain ‘good’ English skills
This content was published on
According to a survey of 88 nations, Switzerland remains stable in its command of English, though it isn’t one of the four national languages.
This content was published on
Switzerland had improved its absolute score for the third consecutive year, but because other countries had improved more, it fell two places to 18th out of 63 countries – or 15th out of 24 European countries – surveyed for the fourth edition of the EF English Proficiency Index. The studyExternal link, released on Wednesday by…
This content was published on
Switzerland just barely maintained the designation “good knowledge”. It ranked behind neighbouring Austria (10th place) and Germany (11th), as well as Portugal (13th) and Romania (16th). But it performed distinctly better than its other neighbours Italy (28th) and France (37th). The survey, carried out for the fifth time by EF, measured the English knowledge of…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.